Kuaishou Continues Earnings Growth Amid AI Push

By Jason Chau

Kuaishou Technology, China's second-largest short-video platform, delivered broadly in-line quarterly and annual results, supported by revenue growth in its core advertising and e-commerce businesses as its continued its artificial-intelligence push.

Fourth-quarter net profit jumped 32% from a year earlier to 5.23 billion yuan, equivalent to $758.8 million. Adjusting for share-based compensation expenses and net fair-value changes on investments, profit rose 16% during the period.

Quarterly revenue also increased, climbing 12% to 39.57 billion yuan, the Beijing-based company said Wednesday.

Analysts had expected net profit of 5.38 billion yuan on revenue of 38.83 billion yuan, according to an LSEG consensus estimate.

The company attributed the increase in revenue to growth in its online marketing services, e-commerce segment and its AI business.

The results could help revive sentiment on the stock, which has lost momentum in recent months amid heightened market volatility. In 2025, Kuaishou's Hong Kong-listed shares surged nearly 55%, driven by strong investor optimism around the potential of its video-generation model, Kling AI, and the broader Chinese technology sector.

The company, known as the second-largest short video platform in China behind TikTok's sister app, Douyin, has continued to grow its daily active users, supported by a user base concentrated in lower-tier cities and rural areas. Despite intense competition from rivals like ByteDance, its average daily active users rose to 410.2 million last year from 399.4 million in 2024.

Its top and bottom lines for the full year also largely met market expectations, with net profit rising 21% to 18.62 billion yuan and revenue increasing 13% to 142.78 billion yuan. Adjusted net profit was 17% higher.

Overall, analysts have been positive on Kuaishou's outlook. The company's large user base, diversified revenue streams and prudent financial management should continue to support earnings, said CreditSights analysts.

S&P analysts said they expect its core e-commerce business, which contributes more than 40% of the company's revenue and over half of its profit, to remain a key growth driver this year.

"Kuaishou's greater proportion of rural-area users cushions it from the fierce competition surrounding instant deliveries in higher-tier cities," they wrote in a note.

Investors, meanwhile, are monitoring the progress in its AI technology. The company, which released its latest Kling 3.0 model in early February, said its AI tools now serve more than 60 million creators globally, with use cases across movies, animation and advertising.

Kling AI's revenue exceeded 340 million yuan in the fourth quarter, Kuaishou said.

While direct monetization of Kling remains limited, Kuaishou's AI capabilities are expected to support earnings growth in the coming years by reducing production and advertising costs and accelerating content creation, S&P analysts said.

Write to Jason Chau at jason.chau@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 25, 2026 06:43 ET (10:43 GMT)